Extracellular field potential recording of single cardiomyocytes in agarose microchambers using microelectrode array

Abstract

To study cell communication, it is essential that single cell responses in cellular networks are analyzed. Cardiomyocyte networks are known to simultaneously change membrane potential with spontaneous excitation. To measure the extracellular potential change in single cardiomyocytes in networks, we developed a microelectrode array (MEA) chip consisting of 8-µm-diameter and 3-µm-thick platinum-black (Pt-B)-coated indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes with agarose microchambers. Single cardiomyocytes were seeded individually on this MEA chip with a micropipette. The extracellular potential of a single cardiomyocyte could be measured with this MEA chip. The amplitude of the extracellular potential change in a single cardiomyocyte was very small (<100 µV) and the beating rate was not constant. We expected that these results would accelerate the measurement of membrane potential changes of single cardiomyocytes in cellular networks.